TiTLE PENDiNG SiRiUSLiLY
by sanejane
Summary: Mildly AU.  Set in the Marauders' seventh year.  Missing classes monthly due to his 'furry little problem,' Remus asks Lily to gather his class work for him.  When she agrees, she finds herself running into Sirius Black on monthly intervals.
1. September 1977

September 1977

Divination was garbage.

In his quick, flowing pace back to the Gryffindor tower, Sirius Black nearly tripped over the billowing folds of his everyday robes, which had been made especially long with the purpose of 'growing into them.' Madame Malkin had been most insistent about this, certain that he would grow another few inches in his final year at Hogwarts. He cursed her now, just as he cursed his Divination instructor, Professor Gatsby, for ejecting him from the class. He had never understood the lousy subject anyway, and after three years of teaching, Gatsby seemed to have had enough of him and had no desire to spend a fourth year letting Sirius mess around while he tried to teach the other students.

As if they were paying attention in the least as well.

The final straw happened during just moments prior in their fated lesson on the crystal ball. Remus was in remission, it being the day after the full moon, and was resting in the Hospital Wing. With James and Peter in Ancient Runes, Sirius especially missed the other Marauder who was supposed to be in class with him. A pesky fly circling the Astronomy Tower had landed on Sirius' outstretched wand. Bored and spaced out, he had given it a careless flick to the left. Instantly, every crystal ball within the area had exploded into a showering of glass.

Professor Gatsby had not minced words. "Get out and come back when you've made yourself into something useful to the wizarding world!" the minute, red-faced wizard had roared, pushing Sirius towards the ladder with great force for a man his size. When Sirius had replied that he didn't think he'd _ever _make himself into something useful, Gatsby had given another great yell and levitated him out of the place.

At first, Sirius had been heavily amused. It was not his first time to be kicked out of a classroom, after all. Realizing his bag including his Quidditch gloves in the room had made things much less entertaining, and Gatsby had locked the trap door. As Divination was his last class of the day, Quidditch came directly after, and Sirius knew James was not going to be happy. Sirius' performance as Beater was a lot less impressive without the lucky gloves he had come to entrust, and they also protected his forearms from Bludgers. Yes, Captain Potter would not be happy.

He gave the Fat Lady the month's password ('fairy wings') and stormed through the common room. There were a few fifth and seventh years scattered around, enjoying an off block to study for OWLs and NEWTs, respectively, though none of them were actually doing the task at hand. He nearly plowed at fifth year boy over in his progress to get to the dorms. James would be up after class—after all, he didn't believe in keeping his precious broom in the cupboards, no, it had to be in his hand or locked in his trunk—and Sirius hoped someone would retrieve his things for him. Though usually Sirius' partner in crime, one thing James would not joke about was Quidditch. He was quite the tyrant, really, and demolished anyone who came in his way.

Tossing the door to the seventh year's dormitory open, Sirius froze. He was not the only person in the dorm. No, hovering near Remus' bed, back to him, was another of his fellow seventh year, the object of James Potter's affection, Lily Evans. For a moment, all he saw was the back of her head, her fiery red hair pulled back into a low bun at the base of her neck. The next moment, she whipped her head around, her shocked expression stating that she was just as surprised to see him as he was to see her.

They stared.

"What the hell are you doing in my dormitory, Evans?" Sirius finally conjured. Though not the most polite way of putting things, it got his point across.

Lily frowned. "Watch your tone, Black. It's incredibly unbecoming." She riffled through several pieces of parchments she had been standing over, a quill clutched in her hand. "Remus' mum is ill, as you must know," she continued, suddenly all business. "He asked me to gather things from his classes, since the lot of you are apparently too stupid to do it for him. I'm leaving it on his bed, as he asked, which just so happens to be in _your_ dormitory." Venom laced her tone. She was not shy about voicing how she viewed Sirius, which was perhaps on the same level as James Potter. In other words, not very high at all.

Having been talked down to far worse in his life, Sirius was not impressed. Her explanation seemed plausible enough, but he couldn't help but be skeptical as thoughts of all the pranks he and James had pulled on her ran through his head. She had every reason to want revenge, and as the brightest witch in the year, she could have easily pulled it off. "That's it?" he asked warily, watching her carefully. "This has nothing to do with getting back at Prongs and me for bewitching the armor to follow you last week?"

Her vivid eyes narrowed at the memory. "Please. I have better things to do than waste my time thinking about the two of you." Brushing a stray piece of hair out of her face, she perched at the end of Remus' bed and continued writing on a piece of parchment. "Get over yourself, Black. The world does not revolve around your and Potter's doings."

Wondering more than ever why James was interested in this girl, Sirius started cautiously towards his bed. The house elves had already been in, making the beds, and he fell onto the mattress without any care of messing up his duvet. "Okay, Head Girl." She was just the sort of person Sirius disliked, a pure stickler for the rules. Short of a professor, she was the last person he wanted to meet up with after being thrown out of a class. He expected the inquiry to start, but it did not, and only the scratching of her quill filled the room. Suddenly, it dawned on him that she was not in class as well. "Skiving off class, Evans?"

"No," she answered curtly. "I have this block off to study for NEWTs. I figure I can sacrifice one block to help Remus out." Sirius rolled his eyes. She looked up at him abruptly, showing emotion for the first time during their encounter. Worry showing through, she studied him intently. "Is Remus' mum okay? She falls ill an awful lot."

Sirius nearly smiled. He remembered fondly how peeved James had been when Remus and Lily had become friends during their fifth year as prefects together, something James had been trying to accomplish for years. He was not particularly sure why Remus enjoyed Lily's company either. He insisted that she was actually very mellow and humorous, but Sirius didn't see it. The fact that she had bought Remus' story about his mum being ill was what really amused him. Remus' excuses to people were as funny to him as James referring to it as Remus' 'furry little problem.' "She's fine," he told Lily, showing emotion as well, as a tiny hint of warmth entered his voice. Despite Remus' dislike of them, full moons were his favorite time of the month. The four of them—well, perhaps not Remus at first—had had a blast the previous night running around Hogsmeade.

Lily's eyebrows rose. Clearly she had no idea why he'd smile over Remus' mother's illness, but probably went with the assumption that he was plain weird and went back to what she was composing. "You're not in class either," she noted after a silence.

He had been watching her closely, still not keen on the idea of her being in their dormitory, and thinking about how James probably would have sold his soul to change places with him at that moment. "I know."

"No reason why?" She sounded less accusatory this time, though her mind could have been on other things.

"Gatsby kicked me out."

Perhaps she had anticipated this, as she didn't seem surprised. With a soft scoff, she rolled her eyes heavenward. "Surprise there."

Sirius' defense rose. "Hey, I didn't—"

"Deserve it? Because I'd bet ten Galleons you did."

Sirius quieted considerably at that. He hadn't even been sure what he was about to say before she had interrupted him. "I destroyed some things."

"Another surprise." Straightening her stack of parchment, she tucked her quill into her bag that rested against her legs. It was quick-drying ink, yet she blew at the top parchment lightly. "I really don't know how Remus fits in with you lot. He seems a lot more…normal and…less destructive."

The image of Remus in werewolf form came to Sirius mind, and he chuckled a bit, shaking his dark head lightly. "Moony just hides it better than the rest of us, but he's no saint."

Lily looked at him, her eyes scanning his face slowly. She seemed pensive, deep in thought, and kept her gaze locked with Sirius' just long enough to make him uncomfortable. "I'm sure." The coolness was back in her voice, and she stood up, swinging her back over her shoulder. "Goodbye, Black." She left just as abruptly as Sirius had entered, leaving behind nothing but moderate discomfort for Sirius and a faint hint of perfume.

The moment her footsteps faded away, Sirius pounced to Remus' bed in true style of his animagus form, skewing Lily's careful pile about haphazardly. Her small, neat handwriting covered five pieces of parchment, detailing notes of every class she and Remus had together. The top parchment was considerably shorter, and seeing Remus' name as the header, Sirius picked it up cautiously, curious.

_Remus,_

_I hope your mum is doing better than you spoke of yesterday. I hope you've relaxed as well, you seemed almost sick with nerves over it. Classes were dull without you to compete with and to keep me from rowing with Potter. I nearly hexed him in Charms, though I'm sure he'll be more than happy to tell you the story._

_Exam in Transfiguration next Tuesday. I'm nowhere near prepared for it and will probably be in the library all week. If you're in the same state I am, or just taking pity on me, I'll hope to study with you._

_And tell Black to actually attend his classes for once. The git nearly gave me a heart attack when I was delivering this. What happened to, "You won't even have to deal with them"?_

_-Lily_

Sirius frowned. He most certainly was _not_ a git. He thought for a moment about crossing that part out, but knew Remus would see it as tampering. Dropping the stack of papers back on Remus' bed, he left them in a state nowhere neat as the pile of Lily's it had once been.


	2. October 1977

October 1977

Professor Gatsby had been true to his word. It had been Remus who had forced Sirius to attempt returning to the class, and Sirius couldn't help but feel it had been Lily's fault. Had she not snitched, he would have been free to avoid Divination for the rest of his days. Logically, he knew it was not so, but that did not keep him from blaming the redhead. The blame had to go somewhere, and it definitely was not going to be on him.

But Professor Gatsby would not hear of it. His usually flaccid, sallow face had turned stony and positively puce when Sirius had followed Remus up the trap door the following class, and had demanded he leave. Even Remus, one of Gatsby's favorite students, could not convince him otherwise, and again, Sirius was levitated and locked out of the classroom. He knew he could have gone to McGonagall and explained the situation to her, but he was certain it would only end in detention and deducted house points, neither of which he was especially fond of. And so Divination became Sirius' off period, and he could not have been more pleased.

October's full moon had been particularly rough on Remus. The werewolf, usually rather calm and collected around his animagus friends after the initial transformation, had been out of sorts, rough and angry, and Sirius and James were on constant watch the whole night. The dog and the stag were able to keep Remus in check, but it had been brutal and exhausting, and Sirius had the war wounds to prove it. Deep contusions lined his ribcage and back, scratches ran freely around his wrists. Once transformed back into human form, Remus had done his best to heal his friends, disgusted with himself and apologizing profusely, but his area of expertise was more in hexes and transfigurations, not charms. In considerable pain, Sirius had skived off most of the day's classes and tried to find solace in his bed. Remus was in the Hospital Wing, receiving care under the doting Madame Pomphrey. Sirius couldn't help but feel that he was getting the raw end of some sort of deal.

With James and Peter in Ancient Runes, he occupied the dormitory himself, dozing fitfully in his four poster bed, starting every once in a while due to pain. Just as he finally fell into what he felt could have been a successful bout of sleep, the heavy oak door creaked slowly open, and in walked Lily.

Sirius awoke with a start, but focused on the task at hand, Lily did not notice. She headed straight for Remus' bed, laid her heavy stack of books down on the end, and then pulled her pack off, rummaging through it. Sirius watched her carefully, awkwardness rising. She blew a piece of hair out of her eyes, sighed haughtily, and froze suddenly. Perhaps she felt his eyes boring into her, who knew, but her head snapped up abruptly and her gaze met his.

She jumped. "Black!" Her voice was shrill and surprised, not at all the usually poised tone she carried so well. Clutching a hand over her rapidly beating heart, she positively glared at him. "What in Merlin's name—?"

Sirius groaned. He was in no mood for an inquisition, and pulled his pillow over his head savagely, blocking her from his view. While this had halted her speech briefly, she continued on as though she had never stopped.

"—Are you doing here? _Again_? Am I going to have to report you? Is this what it comes down to? I can't believe you'd—"

"I'm sick!" he protested, removing the pillow to return her harsh look. "Sod off."

"So go to Madame Pomphrey," she snapped back, clearly affronted by his insult. "You're just like Potter. Do any of you gits go to class?"

"Yes, which is why I'm the only one up here," he too snapped, struggling to sit up in his bed. Pain shot through his ribcage. He couldn't help but smile crookedly at the shot of sharpness, wondering what Madame Pomphrey would say if he showed up in the Hospital Wing in the shape he was in. "Pomphrey asks too many questions. She's a lot like you, really."

Mouth dropping open in indignation, Lily's sassy retort was on the tip of her tongue as she watched him cringe deeply again, clutching his side. She bit her lower lip lightly as her good heart overcame her intense dislike and her expression became clouded with worry. "Are you all right?"

The sudden softness in her voice startled him more than anything else so far had. Unused to it, his defenses rose instead of dropped as she had intended. "Of course I am," he told her shortly, bristling. "Mind your own damn business."

Insulted, she obliged, returning to her search and muttering darkly under her breath. Sirius didn't doubt that whatever she was saying was a curse on his very soul, and was relieved she didn't have her wand in her hand at the moment or knew this encounter would probably end in castration. Or worse. As she produced a self-inking quill, piece of parchment, and several stacks of notes yet again, he watched, curiosity growing. It seemed so out of character for her to care for anyone, and yet here she was, devoted servant to Remus. He shifted in his four-poster bed, causing yet another spasm of pain, and caved. "You're good at Charms."

His sudden statement startled her, making her jump slightly, Remus' mattress squeaking. She looked up. "Yes."

"Healing charms?"

With a rather modest shrug, she tucked her hair behind her ear, too looking curious. "I suppose."

Aware she wasn't going to make things easy and frustrated with that fact, he was in no mood to beg her for help. Instead, he hiked up the sleeve of his shirt and revealed several deep, scarlet scratches and had to smirk when she inhaled sharply. They truly were a sight to behold. He looked like he had lost a fight to a banshee, but no, it was just one of his best mates' doing. He wanted to laugh, but held the urge back.

"How—?" She caught herself. "No questions. Right. Right…" Chewing her lower lip more in nerves, she pulled her wand out of her pack and twirled it absently. "Do you want me to…?"

"Yes." It struck him, moments after he said it, that he was entrusting his body and welfare in Lily Evans, the girl who had hated him and James since third year. His brow furrowed and he nearly jerked his arm back, but she was already approaching his bed carefully, awkwardly, and took his wrist gently in his hand. The paleness of her creamy skin contrasted with his own tan, scarred skin, and her hand was cool, nearly cold against him. Touching the end of her worn wand to his skin, she muttered an incantation under her breath and starting at the point her wand touched, the scratches began to disappear into mended skin. Sirius watched in fascination. She hadn't been lying when she said she was good at Charms.

She dropped the hold on his arm as the charm completed, and he pulled it close so he could examine her handiwork. There wasn't a trace of any wound ever affecting him, and as he touched it gingerly, noted that the pain had disappeared. "Well." It was not in Sirius' first nature to compliment Lily Evans, or even to thank her, which was why it sounded so terribly awkward when he rubbed his hair nervously and muttered a low, embarrassed, "Thanks."

She nodded, feeling just as awkward as he did at accepting the gratitude. She moved to return to Remus' bed and the task at hand, but he grabbed her wrist, stopping her short. She turned, startled, and it was her immediate reaction to wrench her wrist out of his grip sharply. She didn't trust him any more than he trusted her.

Jerking up the hem of his shirt, Sirius wordlessly exposed a series of bruises marring his skin. Pretty face contorting in horror, Lily's sharp inhalation of breath showed her shock, and her mouth opened, the question on the tip of her tongue. One glance at his face reminded her that no questions were being asked. Clamping her mouth firmly shut, she wordlessly healed these wounds as well, along with other claw and bite marks, bruises, gouges, and cuts that Sirius revealed to her.

Pain no longer plagued him. No, now exhaustion was the only thing Sirius had to combat, and still somewhat disbelieving over that, he stretched his limbs out slowly, carefully, examining every place she had healed with great wariness, as though he expected the spells to suddenly backfire. They did not. Lily took this time to slip away from his side, and they both breathed easier once on opposite sides of the room from each other.

But instead of going back to work, gathering Remus' things together for him, Lily perched quietly at the end of his bed, twirling her want once again through her pale fingers. A shower of golden sparks shot abruptly out the end of it, startling both Sirius and Lily, causing her to jump and him to curse softly. The sparks fell gently to the thick carpet, and Lily flushed gently, embarrassed at her wand's erratic behavior undoubtedly brought on by her deep thinking. She was, after all, the brightest witch in the year.

"Is Remus' mum a werewolf?"

Okay, perhaps not THAT bright.

All the more startled, this time Sirius did not curse, but simply stared at her in wonderment. "Come again?"

"Remus' mum." Raising a hand to her forehead slowly, Lily pushed a lock of hair out of her face and twisted it briefly. "He visits her monthly because she's ill. It's not because…?"

Merlin. Merlin, indeed. All Sirius could do was stare, in disbelief and somewhat awe that Lily, with her brilliant mind and cunning skills, could not see through Remus' lies about visiting his mother. And to top it all off, Remus was a horrendous liar. The poor bloke blushed and stuttered, tittered aimlessly, dancing around the subject at all costs, and even Peter could see right through his façade on the rare occasions that Remus tried to pull off a lie around them. But Lily Evans, who had thwarted more of Sirius and James' pranks than he could remember, would do better on NEWTS than he would have cared to do in a million years, and would probably be Minister of Magic someday could not see through it. Sirius fought back the sudden, insane urge to laugh. Again, Merlin.

But as he continued to stare at her, his eyes caught something in her expression he had not noted previously. As she returned his gaze, she did not look haughty and uppity as she normally did when addressing Sirius, but earnest, innocent, and downright naïve. It became abundantly clear to Sirius at that moment that Lily wholly believed the lie Remus had told her simply because she wanted to. She saw the best in him, just as she saw the best in slimy Snivellus, even when no one else did.

It unnerved him and left him speechless. "I don't—" And he stopped. Sirius had no idea how where he was going with that sentence, what he was even going to try to begin to explain, or even if he should.

She bit her lower lip yet again, mistaking his loss of words for loyalty. "Of course." There was surprisingly no decipherable emotion in her voice, no bitterness at his reluctance to answer, and no push for more information. Smoothly, with quick precision, she finished up the remainder of the tasks she had to do for Remus. They could have been done in mere moments had Sirius not distracted her in the first place, and they both knew it.

After stacking Remus' things neatly on his bed and gathering her own things, Lily slipped her pack over her shoulder, and once again twirling her wand, she started for the dormitory door. Hand on the shining brass knob, she hesitated, and glanced back at Sirius, who remained immobile, watching her in a tired sort of daze.

"I shouldn't have healed you." Her haughty look was back, as she surveyed him with sudden mild distaste. "I don't doubt that Potter's out there nursing wounds too. The fact that I healed you means you won't learn a thing, and the two of you will be out again soon…maraudering," with a long-suffering sigh, as if this personally affected her (and really, it probably did, as many of James' attention-seeking pranks were aimed at her), she swept the door open and left in a flurry of red hair, shutting the door behind her. Still, Sirius could have sworn that he saw a glimpse of a smile on her face before she disappeared. A hint, in the least, that she had not regretted helping him. Unless he imagined it, which was also entirely possible.


End file.
